Skip to main content

261. Sharing the Morsel With Him

Psalm 41:8-9, Matthew 26:20-25, Mark 14:18-21, Luke 22:21-23, John 13:18-30
Key Verse: "Even My close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared My bread, has lifted up his heel against Me."
Psalm 41:9; John 13:18B

History has painted Judas as evil personified. In doing this, however, we lose the sense of brotherhood that was present that night. Even though Jesus knew what Judas was about to do, He sincerely referred to Judas as, "friend," and that view of Judas by Jesus does not change. If you have ever been betrayed by someone close, in whom you have trusted, you can understand Jesus' emotions at this point. John says that "Jesus was troubled in spirit” and testified, "I tell you the truth one of you is going to betray Me." (John 13:20B) This was not an easy thing to accept for our Lord, especially after all they had been through together.

For our best understanding of the sequence of events that follow, I am going to rely on the three eye witnesses, Matthew, Mark, or (John Mark relaying Peter's account), and John. They are all very clear that the meal was in progress. Before drinking the second cup of wine, they had recounted how God had used the plagues on Egypt to bring about their deliverance.

After drinking this second cup, it would be time to share some matzo or, the bread of affliction. The bread is symbolic of the haste in which the people left Egypt. The leader, in this case Jesus, would take the unleavened bread and break it into pieces. Before distributing it, He would dip it in a bitter paste, horse radish is used today, to remind them of the bitterness of their slavery in Egypt. Jesus dipped the bread, or matzo like substance in the "maror," and then handed the first piece to the one sitting in the second place of honor, to His left, Judas. Then, John tells us, "As soon as Judas took the bread, satan entered him. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out; and it was night." (John 13:28-&-30) Remember, not even the disciples suspected a thing at the time. In fact, they were all wondering if Jesus were talking about them, when He said, "One of you will betray Me." No one appears to have suspected Judas above anyone else of being capable of such evil. So, in hindsight, I'm sure that all of them had a sense of betrayal, but for now, only Jesus knew what was really happening.

Judas left after observing the history of the Jewish deliverance from physical slavery in Egypt. He missed out on what was to come, history in the making as God set his people free from slavery to sin and death. He had participated only in religious observance and he had gone as far as religious observance could take him. This will be true for all of us if we rely on religious practices to save us.

Yet, as we will see, Judas, even after all this, still had choices to make. It is never too late. In Christ, while there is life there is hope. The decision is always ours. Judas could go no further in this last meal with Jesus because of the choices he had made. Poor Judas, if he had only known his Lord.

Hymn: "God and Man at Table Are SatDown"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...
Post a Comment
Read more

204. Come Like a Child

Psalm 127 , Matthew 19:13-15 , Luke 18:15-17 , Mark 10:13-16 Key Verse: Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14 The attitude of the disciples isn't much different than the attitude of many people, even Christians, today. Instead of seeing children as a blessing from the Lord, too many regard them as a burden to bear that gets in the way of our own selfish happiness. Family size is determined by what we think we can afford rather than openness to God's blessing, trusting God to provide. Satan hates children. Children represent innocence. The sooner he can corrupt and or damage a child, the happier he is. This is why Jesus warned in Matthew 18:6: "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drown in the depths of the sea." To corrupt or damage ...
Post a Comment
Read more

201. All for God's Glory

John 9 & 2 Corinthians 12:7-12 Key Verse: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." John 9:3 In this event John records my personal favorite from all four gospels. I love it for its detail. I love it because it demonstrates so much of our human frailty. It shows us how powerful our fears can be in the midst of God's amazing grace and glory. First, we have the disciples who are suffering under the misconception that sickness and unfortunate circumstances are the result of sin only. They are thinking like Job and his friends. If you obey you will always be blessed and if you sin, God will punish you for it. They couldn't imagine that God could have possibly designed this man, blind, for His own glorious purposes. Then we have the neighbors who are all amazed, but then what? What do you do when the mold has been broken? This man was blind and now he...
Post a Comment
Read more